she is eight

My oldest grandchild turns eight today. Do you remember being eight? I do: I was in Miss Angellini's class at the UN school. Miss Angellini was not a an especially good teacher (young, flustered, a bit spacey), but I liked school anyway. Friends mattered more than teachers in third grade. 

Snowdrop is still in second grade (as was I in the month I turned eight) and she likes her teacher at school, but friends matter more to her as well. It's the kids, not the teacher that she talks about when I pick her up at the end of her day.

Since the little girl will have her family celebration on this day, our whole schedule is readjusted to allow for this event. The plan is that she comes here as usual after school, but then, after 5, her brothers and parents join up for a birthday dinner and a cake of her choice (she wants chocolate, with lemon frosting).

This means that immediately after my morning chores...

... and breakfast (cannot forget about breakfast!)...

I get to work on her imagined cake. I use the FBI batter from Maida Heatter's treasure trove of cake recipes. Reliable. Everyone likes it. And then I use Juniper's lemon frosting (no, she did not invent the recipe, but I associate it with her birthday since her mom used it on a birthday cake then). 

Now, many would say that chocolate and lemon should not be uttered in the same breath. Good for them. Snowdrop likes the combination (and often asks for it when getting a double scoop ice cream cone) and we shall have it today! [And the verdict, written after the tasting: it works!]

So I bake the cake and wait for it to cool and I prepare the basics for the dinner and then I frost the cake and adorn it with candied violets from Toulouse and uff! Have to hurry...

... it's nearing school pick up time!

I was curious what her teacher did for kid birthdays. Turns out that she has them reach into a big basket of stuffies and they get to choose one for keeps. Well now, that's an easy pleaser! Snowdrop comes home with a ...cat. She is, these days, very much attached to cats.

At the farmhouse, now. She takes in the decorations...

Plays some boisterous hand game with Ed...

Books. She asks me to take up the one she currently favors. I tell her I need my reading glasses. She tries them on as well. I want to see myself! Okay....

I read. A lot. It's just that kind of cozy day. And we do one more thing: she needs a new passport and I offered to take the photo for it. I wont post the one we actually will use, but in the multitude of pics of an 8 year old against a white background, I really liked this one:

And in the evening, her brothers and parents come over and it is joyous and wonderful to have them all here on a weekday, a not insignificant weekday!

Dinner...

Presents... (No, Sandpiper, do not open her presents!)

Cake.

And so much love! Happy birthday Snowdrop!!